The present invention relates to a hearing protector, more particularly to a device for damping intense sound and thus reducing the risk of hearing damage to a person. Such a device is primarily intended to be able to be used by musicians, but also other sound-screening applications are conceivable.
Musicians in symphony orchestras, theater orchestras, big bands etc. often experience problems with high sound levels from sound sources behind them, which can result in permanent hearing damage for these musicians, such as a musician placed immediately in front of a source of intense sound in an orchestra, e.g. a violinist sitting in front of the brass section, i.e. trumpets, trombones etc. These wind instruments can often produce sound intensities of up to 130 dB. In order to protect the ears against such intense sound pressure, different types of protectors have been tested for the musician sitting in front, e.g. ear plugs. These, however, have the disadvantage that they also damp out sounds which the musician wishes to hear and must hear. Other methods of protecting hearing have been to place sound screens in front of the strong wind instruments or percussion instruments. Such screens can be of plexiglass, for example, and be provided with a soft damping material. Such screens, however, have a negative effect on the composite tone of the entire orchestra due to unfortunate sound reflections from the screens which have therefore had a negative effect for both the public and the players of loud instruments.